Heathcote talks to Tyler Brule, the editor of Monocle, whose yearly most livable cities list attracts a lot of controversy for the dominance of cities like Zurich, Vienna and Geneva. So what are the criteria by which Monocle decides on its list?
""Global connectivity is important, education and we've recently added chain store metrics – is there a Starbucks or a Zara?" he says."
Monocle also tracks efficient public transport, proximity to nature and cultural institutions, easy commutes, etc.
But Heathcote writes:
"Each determinant on its own seems an indisputably good thing. But what do they mean together? Can Munich (Monocle's Number 1) really be one of the best places in the world to live? On a Sunday afternoon?"
Comments
Starbucks and livable cities
For the non-American coffee drinkers out there, going into a Starbucks is a sign of defeat, an admission you are in a place with no interesting coffee houses. Starbucks may be an international metric for dullness; it is certainly not a metric for what is livable.